Irked by the demolition, thugs in the area attacked government officials, who were escorted to the area by police officers, and vandalised six vehicles.

The attackers broke several windscreens, side mirrors and other vehicles parts with stones and even blocked the road with a Toyota Camry daring the government officials to leave the area.

During the attack, a cameraman with the Lagos State television received a deep cut in his hand with blood gushing out.

The police were able to salvage the situation without shooting or using teargas.

The government officials demolished the building located at No. 77 Ogunmokun Street, Mushin with a bulldozer as the owner had no building permit.

The owner of the building was said to have been served stop work notice since January, but continued illegal development of the property.

Also, 11 other buildings were sealed by LASBCA in Mushin. The affected structures had no building permit and other documents.

General Manager, LASBCA, Engr. Olalekan Shodeinde had said it was no longer going to be business as usual as government was determined to get rid of illegal development across the state and stem the tide of collapsed buildings.

“Before now, we have been civil in our enforcement, but the developers have remained recalcitrant by continuing in their illegal development. Most of these developers don’t have submission talk less of having permits,” he said.

Shodeinde added that whenever a building had been shutdown, the agency’s officials toke the building so that their owners would come forward to regularize their papers, as well as pay the necessary fines.

According to him, LASBCA should not be running after illegal developers if they did the right thing by obtaining their building permits and submitting other documents for approval.

“Most of these illegal developments were done at night with substandard materials being used. They don’t get the needed permit or follow due process before erecting them,” he said.

The Nigerian government says it wants to provide affordable houses by mortgage that people can pay for throughout their working life.

The Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, who stated this on Wednesday, said part of the change agenda of the ruling All Progressive Congress is that Nigerians would no longer have to buy a house like fish in the market, saying, “that is not how it works in other societies.”

“The payment period will be spread over a period of time, usually your working life.That is really affordability,” he said. “Housing is not just about building, it is also providing access to funding through the Federal Mortgage Bank.”

Mr Fashola stated this in Jigawa State where he is on a supervision tour of federal road and housing projects.

According to the minister, “Workers who are contributing to the National Housing Fund have something now to look forward to. We are going to create a line of supply houses and access to credit and allow you to choose what your income can afford.

“That is the journey of change President Buhari has been talking about. We will experience something new. The change will not be only on the new houses but also how to pay for the houses in a manner that makes it convenient for you,” he stated.

On electricity, the minister said people are now free to set up independent power generation companies “without necessarily requesting for licence.”

He said ‎the federal government is encouraging the private sector to invest in generation and selling of power to the public.

“Any interested individual or company can set up power generation from two megawatts downwards and sell it to public without requesting for any licence.

“We are encouraging people to set up small power generation and sell it according to their capacity, not necessarily going for big projects that require huge amount of money and expertise”.

On the delay of take off of various private solar power generation projects in the country, particularly those who want to invest in Jigawa State, the minister explained that the investors insisted on selling the power to government.

“But the guideline and the cost they proposed are not attainable. But we are still negotiating with them and as soon as we reach a level ground, the investors will be mobilised to site”.

Mr Fashola commended the Jigawa State government for allocating 2,000 hectares of land to the federal government for the establishment of solar power‎ projects.

He described the present situation in the housing sector as confusing.

He said “we get more confused as the years go by with discordant policies and programmes. One government will want to distance itself from direct provision of housing and the other will want to come up with a programme of national coverage.”

ESV Abonta added that “and most of the time, these programmes do not pass through due diligence and without the buying or input of the local communities where such projects are cited.”

He further lamented that “we thought we will achieve that with the roadmap to housing that was sometime launched by the Federal Ministry of Housing then, but we have not much harmony with what is happening in the housing sector”

The President noted that the housing sector requires consistency and a well mapped out developmental plan, timelines and targets to events from year to year.

On the recent calls for review of the Land Use Act, ESV Abonta called for the removal of the Act from the Constitution to make it easy for constant review without necessarily reviewing the constitution.

He further pointed out that the present provisions in the Act which states that the State Governor must give consent before any land allocation is faulty as most Governors are preoccupied with other things, noting that it has become a pain in the neck of most developmental projects.

On the activities of quacks in the sector, he said there are laws currently being reviewed to check the activities of quacks in the real estate sector and noted that those who refused to join the Association of Estate Agents of Nigeria will be penalized and handed over to law enforcement agencies.

ESV Abonta revealed that under his watch, the Institution has come up with peer review mechanism to ensure her members submit their valuations for a review to ensure it conforms with standards as committees are being set up in major cities in the country to do the review.

He stated that the Institution is committed to the highest ethical standards as well as ensuring that their members have access to the latest trends in the housing sector

On the high number of empty houses in major cities in the country, the President of the Institution called on the Government to introduce annual penal tax on all unoccupied houses without just cause to ensure the owners make those properties available for rent or sale.

The Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) says it’s fully committed to partnering with the 12th Abuja International Housing Show in a quest to ensure all Nigerians have their own homes.

The President of the Institution, ESV Rowland Enyinna Abonta gave this assurance in an interview with Housing TV in Abuja.

ESV Abonta congratulated the Abuja International Housing Show and said he has been associated with the event since 2006.

He said he had equally monitored developments and can boldly say the Abuja International Housing Show has become a strong advocate in the housing sector in Nigeria.

The President said for the first time, the Institution will be fully part of the Show as a partner in order to bring to bear some level of professionalism in the housing sector.

The 12th Abuja International Housing Show billed for 16th to 19th July, 2018 will hold at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

The Abuja International Housing powered by International Housing and Construction Show Limited and Fesadeb Communications, promoters of Housing Development Programme on AIT is the largest housing and construction event in Africa.

It will draw over 30 international speakers and over 15,000 participants from all over the world. The show equally draws international investors with over $7 billion business opportunities to be showcased and will witness 400 companies exhibiting their businesses. This year’s show will feature over 350 exhibitors from not less than 10 countries

You can register for the event at www.aihs2018.com for details on how to be a part of the largest housing show on the continent.

Mr. Hakeem Ogunniran, a prominent operator in Nigeria’s real estate sector, who built and sold several homes for UPDC, believes the nation’s property market should be rid of artificial pricing. The market is still good to invest in, he says. Bennett Oghifo reports

“In a recessionary economy, it is difficult to preach real estate investment because asset conversion period is longer, the economy is sluggish and there is so much uncertainty. People do not want to take real estate investment when there is so much uncertainty because for most people, real estate investment is probably the single largest investment they will do in their lifetime. You don’t want to make such investment when the environment is not certain. But if you look very well, you see that it is probably the best time to do that investment.”

These were the opening thoughts of Mr. Hakeem Ogunniran, the Managing Director of UPDC, a foremost real estate company in the country. He discussed the ‘Challenges and Opportunities in Real Estate’, at a forum of the Nigeria-German Business Association (NGBA), in Lagos, recently.

Ogunniran said it costs a lot of money to invest in real estate. “Even to buy a parcel of land in Ikoyi now is between N350,000 and N420,000 per square metre, which I think is way too high; the prices are too artificial, and the simple test is that when you are doing your project, you can just look at you land cost as a percentage of your total development cost. Best practice, it should be between 5 and 7 per cent but in Nigeria it is as high as 25 per cent- that is a major problem.”

He said unlike what obtains in the stock market, the waiting period for real estate was much longer and so investors needed to have some staying power. This is sometimes lengthened further by the documentation process.

He said real estate investment was better because of capital appreciation, which could take about two or more years. It is also a source of reliable income, particularly if the investment includes Real Estate Investment Trust (RIET).

According to Ogunniran, the greatest challenge of real estate in Nigeria was uncertainty of title. “I always tell my head of legal department at the office that if you want to buy a parcel of land and the title is very clean, I’m always afraid to touch it because there is not title that does not have an issue.”

Another situation, he said was that in the last seven to eight years, many developers have emerged and these are basically doing the same thing. “Unfortunately also, all of us are thinking for the customer, so when the dynamics of the industry was changing we didn’t understand.”

He gave an example, “18 months ago we decided to enter the mid-term market, because the luxury market became challenged, retail had issues, commercial also.

“In Lagos, by June this year, 80,000sqms of Grade A offices are coming to the market on Alfred Rewane Road (former Kingsway Road), Ozumba Mbadiwe Road, and in a few streets in Victoria Island. Now the economy is not expanding, new industries are not coming, so we are all just busy marketing the same set of clients.

“What happens is that people approach you tenant and they offer them all sorts of freebees to relocate.”

This became an avenue for them to become more rigorous in our ventures, he said “So, we took a decision to look at the midterm market and then we value-engineer the design, This time around we really decided to go to the market, created our target group and decided to speak to them.”

The company tried to understand from them what they consider as value. They were surprised that 90 per cent of them said they do not need swimming pool, tennis court; they can use those at the club house in town. They would rather have a crèche, a beautiful playground for children.

He said it was becoming clear in the market that having facilities like gyms, swimming pool, tennis court, among others, is just thinking for the customer.

Ogunniran then advised real estate developers to explore the fine points of joint ventures to boost their business. He also advised on development of Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) market.

Indigenes of Umuoma, Ogbe Ahiara, Ahiazu Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State have warned Governor Rochas Okorocha to rescind his plan to demolish the ancestral market in their area, saying the market is a symbol of their village and major means of livelihood.

In a peaceful march to register their opposition to the planned demolition of the commercial centre, which according to them is as old as their village, the aggrieved villagers, chanting solidarity songs with palm fronds and placards some of which read “Afor Ogbe is our heritage”, “we do not want any interference from government”, “demolition of Afor Ogbe will only bring poverty to our people. “Government of Imo State leave Afor Ogbe alone”, “to whom it may concern, please, please leave our market for us” and “Afor Ogbe is our market, we do not want any renovation or sale”, the villagers vowed to resist the demolition with the last drop of their blood.

Nze Emmanuel Iheariorochi Egbutu, chairman, Aladimma Umuoma as well as the chairman of Independent, Televideo Producers Association, Mbaise chapter, told the DAILY INDEPENDENT that the people are opposed to the market demolition because, “it is a major source of our livelihood and one of the symbols of our village”.

According to Egbutu, when the news of government’s intension to demolish the market filtered to the indigenes, they waited patiently to hear directly from the government but all to no avail only for some government officials to dramatically inform them of this in an unconventional manner and also falsely claim to have secured the blessing of the traditional ruler of the Ogbe community, HRH Eze Pat Ihuoma, which turned out to be a untrue.

“Demolition of the market will adversely affect our people economically and if the market requires renovation, let the government allow us to effect the repairs by ourselves because we have the resources to do this. If they want to build a new market in our area, we will provide land for them but let them leave our ancestral market for us.”

Soundway All Onyekwere Nze, Celestine Agbiogwu and Mrs. Nkem Nwosu, who corroborated the views of Egbutu, warned the state government to drop the planned market demolition, stressing that doing otherwise would impose avoidable hardship on those whose means of livelihood depend on it.

Accompanied by soldiers in order to ensure compliance, the NNPC team bulldozed every structure that stood in their way. Private residences, schools, shops, police station, market place, and religious institutions all had aspects of their edifices brought down to a rubble by the destructive spree.

It was also gathered that the soldiers hired to enforce the law didn’t allow onlookers to take photographs of the exercise. In fact, a female journalist reporting for the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) was allegedly restricted from covering the event and harassed by the trigger-happy khaki boys.

Furthermore, the action was said to have been taken after the expiration of a purported seven-day ultimatum given by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The Nation findings showed that a similar notice had been given by the Federal Government about eight years ago, to the effect that property owners should take down their buildings in the designated area that violated the five-meter rule.

Unfortunately, the warnings seemed to have fallen on deaf ears due largely to a perceived lack of political will on the part of the Federal Government to make good its threat. To that end, the most recent seven days ultimatum given was backed up by action which led to the demolition exercise.

One of the victims simply referred to as Gbenga Ibiloye, gives an account of what happened. “The first day they came, them put mark. Them give us just a week. So they mark everywhere…that we should quit out. After that one week, they came and demolish everywhere including my shop…”, he narrated.

In his account, Usman Adam, an eyewitness and resident of the affected area, however blames both the government and the people for the ugly situation. In his words: “As a matter of fact, government has its own fault, and the people too, have their own fault. Because, there’s no way you’ll build on pipeline and you take the plan to the Town Planning, and they will not tell you that you’re building on pipeline. People will still insist that the government will not come now…after all, for the past ten years, they did not do anything. Don’t worry, just help us do it. We’ll find our way. We would have even made our money before they come. So, most of them know they’re on pipeline…

“So, Town Planning did not do their job very well. They should not have even compromised of helping them or taking any money from them to approve their plan on the building that encroach five metres on pipeline,” he concluded.

Another victim, who pleaded anonymity, said the timing for the action was wrong in view of the harsh living conditions of the people.

“This is not a good period for this. It’s a right thing at a wrong time. The political timing is wrong. The timing is wrong politically. The timing is wrong economically. The timing is even wrong spiritually because people at the lower ebb are feeding from the dustbin,” he lamented.

All efforts to get the Director, Kwara State Town Planning Authority, Mr. Adeoti, to respond to the allegation of issuing temporary approval for buildings erected on pipelines, was frustrated. Rather than answering the question via voice calls on two occasions, he resorted to intimidation, and eventually hung up evasively.

Mr. Adeoti queried our correspondent for engaging him on a non-working day. The next day, a similar effort was made but he further queried the medium used by our correspondent as inappropriate and hung up like he did previously.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Kwara State Governor on Media and Publicity, Dr. Muyideen Femi Akorede, was also contacted by our correspondent.

When asked if the Kwara State government was aware of the demolition exercise, Dr. Muyideen Femi Akorede, said: “The report has come to us and apparently it’s been done by NNPC”.

Dr. Akorede further stated that the state government was not aware of the seven days’ notice. However, he disclosed to our correspondent that the government knew about the demolished houses.

“The only thing I’m aware of is that houses were demolished and all that…I don’t know what kind of communication went on between the NNPC and the owners of those shops,” he said.

When asked if the Kwara State government was aware of the temporary approval issued by the Town Planning Authority, he said: “Well, as far as I’m aware, the government does not issue temporary approval. It’s either your house is approved or not. Another thing is, why didn’t they go for permanent approval before they started building? Assuming they got temporary approval, if they had gone for the final one, I’m sure it would have been rejected… That place belongs to NNPC”. Chima Osuji

LAGOS State government said it has begun payment of over N11.8billion as compensation to owners of properties that had to give way for construction of roads, flyovers, ramps and other critical infrastructural projects across the state.

Special Adviser to the Governor on Urban Development, Mrs. Yetunde Onabule, disclosed this on Tuesday at the annual Ministerial Press Briefing to mark the third year anniversary of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s administration held at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre in Alausa, saying the payment was for properties demolished for projects, including the Abule Egba road expansion, Epe Road expansion, Lekki International Airport, Pen Cinema flyover, ultra-modern bus terminal in Oyingbo and upgrading of Muritala Mohammed International Airport Road.

The special adviser said that following the approval of the projects, the State’s Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development moved to these areas to determine the Right of Way (ROW) for the proposed projects.

According to her, the Lands Bureau carried out a reconnaissance survey and detailed enumeration of about 1,880 properties and claimants affected by the development including residential, commercial, petrol filling stations and religious centres.

“I can confirm to you that in line with the provisions of the Land Use Act 1978, which is the enabling law for the revocation of Right of Occupancy (C of O) and payment of compensation thereof in the country, interest in the affected properties have been promptly revoked and enumeration of these properties completed and payment of over N11,814,844billion approved as compensation for property owners on the Alignment/Right of Way for construction, re-construction/ dualization of roads, flyovers and ramps aimed at alleviating traffic gridlock and other forms of infrastructural development of Lagos is ongoing,” she said.

Onabule added that the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode-led administration had so far lived up to expectation in prompt payment of compensation on acquired land and titles revoked for over-riding public interest, adding that payment was done after the due presentation of all necessary documents by a claimant proving true ownership of the property.

She, however, urged affected residents to speed up their verification processes and forward their documents evidencing ownership of properties, valid means of identification, four passport photographs and other details to facilitate prompt payment.

The special adviser, while giving the financial report for the year under review, said the agency generated over N10.5billion from land transactions last year, representing over 50 per cent short of the N20.7billion it generated in 2016, a development she said would improve when the sale of the new land schemes begins.

“A major total of revenue we were expecting was from our scheme, however, based on the policy of the government that the infrastructure within that scheme must be completed, we had to slow down, that would bring a lot of revenue to the government.

Right now the sand filling is ongoing and I can assure you that once that scheme takes off, we would surpass our revenue target for 2018 including other payments as well,” she explained. Onabule said that based on the quest by the present administration to ensure that Lagosians obtain title documents with ease, the Governor signed a total of 727 Electronic Certificate of Occupancy (E-C of O) in the year under review, thus bringing the number to 5, 172 of such certificates in the last three years.

She said the implementation of the Land Administration and Automation System known as Thompson Reuters Automation Solution, when up and running, would go a long way to reducing problems associated with redundant data, increase accuracy by reducing manual entry errors and ensure a one-stop shop to facilitate unhindered, secured access to land application and title documents in the state.

Besides, Onabule expressed concern on the issue of encroachment on government schemes, warning land speculators, popularly known as Omo-Onile to desist from selling land that falls under government acquisition.

“It is most disheartening to say that a very large number of government schemes in the state are being confronted with the problem of encroachment. We as a government have persistently advised members of the public to ensure they do proper charting and verification of properties before consummating transactions on land.

In 2016, the Lands Bureau recorded an all time high in revenue generation from land transaction as it hit N20.77 billion, but this was half into two in 2017 as it generated N10.579 billion, a downward trend of 50 percent shortfall.

Lands Bureau is a major source of revenue generation for the Lagos State Government, ranking second on annual basis after the Lagos Internally Generated Revenue, LIRS.

Yetunde Onabule, Special Adviser, Urban Development, who oversees supervises the Lands Bureau agency, at a ministerial press conference on Tuesday in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria, is however, optimistic that the revenue of the Lands Bureau will definitely improve at the kick-off of the new schemes, subsequent transactions on State Land, payment by defaulters of Capital Development Levy and the recent redesigning and upgrading of the Land Registry.

She puts the revenue performance under consideration at 59% of the Bureau’s budget for the period.

Onabule is also upbeat about the performance of the Office of the State Surveyor General in the last three years in the achievement of its revenue target.

“The said Office achieved 118% performance of the 2017 budget and has intensified efforts towards not only achieving the year 2018 budget target, but surpassing it,” she says.

Also, recent constructions and rehabilitations of roads have led to massive demolitions of properties by government to claim the rights of way for projects of public interest, but that is not without compensation.

Onabule explains that sequel to the approval by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, relevant agencies of government, the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development moved to these areas to determine the Right of Way (ROW) for the proposed projects, while the Office of the State Surveyor General concluded the survey description of the affected properties to be acquired for the development.

In line with the approval, the special adviser says the Lands Bureau carried out a reconnaissance survey and detailed enumeration of about 1,880 properties /claimants affected by these projects, which includes residential, commercial, petrol filling stations and POW.

But Onabule argues that government is magnanimous enough to pay compensation to affected property owners to the tune of N11.81 billion.

“I can confirm to you that in line with the provisions of the Land Use Act 1978, which is the enabling Law for the revocation of Right of Occupancy (C of O), and payment of compensation thereof in the country, interest in the affected properties have been promptly revoked, and enumeration of these properties completed and payment of over N11, 814, 844 billion approved as compensation for properties/owners on the alignment/ right of way for construction, re-construction/ dualisation of roads, flyovers and ramps aimed at alleviating traffic gridlock and other forms of infrastructural development of Lagos is ongoing.

“Truth be told, the Akinwunmi Ambode administration has so far lived up to expectation in prompt payment of compensation on acquired land and title revoked for over–ridding public interest. As a matter of fact, we are duty–bound, as a responsible and responsive government, to pay compensation. However, payment of compensation must be with the presentation of all necessary documents as may be required, evidencing ownership of the land,” she says.

The 318th inaugural lecture of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, will focus on the challenges facing the construction industry, the organisers have said.

The lecture titled, ‘Unsettling uncertainties of construction in an uncertain world: The cost, the challenges and the conquests’, scheduled for Tuesday, will be delivered by the Head of the Department of Quantity Surveying of the institution, Prof. Henry Odeyinka.

According to the statement, Odeyinka also obtained a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the OAU in 1995 and a PhD in Construction Management and Economics from Glasgow Caledonian University in 2003.

It added, “He has been an active member of the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors since his election in 1989. He has served as an examiner to the institute and also as a resource person at the institute’s conferences and seminars. He was invited as a keynote speaker at the NIQS research conferences held in September 2015.

“In addition, he is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and also a member of the Association for Project Management. He is also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy based in the United Kingdom, and also a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors. He is a member of the UK-based Association of Researchers in Construction Management.

“Odeyinka has contributed to the training of well over 1,000 quantity surveyors in Nigeria and the United Kingdom.

While in the United Kingdom, he also pioneered the development of a new Master’s programme in commercial management in construction meant to help contractors’ quantity surveyors to up their skills. He was also the course director of the programme before his return to Nigeria in 2013.”